Final Oscar Predictions

MY FINAL Oscar Predictions heading into nomination morning. 01/07/2013.

Best Picture
01. Lincoln
02. Argo
03. Zero Dark Thirty
04. Les Miserables
05. Silver Linings Playbook
06. Life of Pi
07. Django Unchained
08. Amour
--- if more than 8---
09. Beasts of the Southern Wild
10. Skyfall

Best Director
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ben Affleck, Argo
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Tom Hooper, Les Miserables

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

Best Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Supporting Actor
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Javier Bardem, Skyfall

Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Sally Field, Lincoln
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Maggie Smith, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Ann Dowd, Compliance

Best Original Screenplay
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty
Amour
Django Unchained
Looper

Best Adapted Screenplay
Lincoln
Argo
Silver Linings Playbook
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Best Animated Feature
Wreck-It-Ralph
Frankenweenie
The Painting
Brave
ParaNorman

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour
The Intouchables
Kon-Tiki
No
A Royal Affair

Best Documentary Feature
How To Survive a Plague
Searching for Sugar Man
The Invisible War
Mea Maxima Culpa
The Gatekeepers

Best Production Design
Les Miserables
Lincoln
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Anna Karenina
Skyfall

Best Cinematography
Lincoln
Skyfall
Life of Pi
Django Unchained
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina
Mirror Mirror
Les Miserables
Lincoln
A Royal Affair

Best Film Editing
Lincoln
Argo
Zero Dark Thirty
Life of Pi
Skyfall

Best Makeup & Hairstyling
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Men in Black 3
Lincoln

Best Score
Lincoln
Life of Pi
The Master
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Argo

Best Original Song
"Skyfall" - Skyfall
"Learn Me Right" - Brave
"Suddenly" - Les Miserables
"Ancora Qui" - Django Unchained
"Still Alive" - Paul Williams: Still Alive

Best Sound Editing
Zero Dark Thirty
Skyfall
Django Unchained
Lincoln
The Dark Knight Rises

Best Sound Mixing
Zero Dark Thirty
Lincoln
Les Miserables
The Avengers
Skyfall

Best Visual Effects
Life of Pi
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Cloud Atlas
Prometheus
John Carter

Best Animated Short
Paperman
Maggie Simpson in the Longest Daycare
Adam and Dog
Fall of the House of Usher
The Eagleman Stag

Best Documentary Short
Open Heart
Mondays at Racine
Education of Mohammad Hussein
Inocente
Parasio

Best Live Action Short
when you find me
Henry
Curfew
9meter
Death of a Shadow

Final Oscar Predictions, 2/23/12

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive

Best Actor
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actress
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay
The Artist
Bridesmaids
50/50
Midnight in Paris
A Seperation

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants
The Help
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Score
The Artist
Extremely Loud and Incredible Close
Hugo
Moneyball
War Horse

Best Original Song
"Picture in My Head" - The Muppets
"Life's a Happy Song" - The Muppets
"Lay Your Head Down" - Albert Nobbs
The song from The Help
"Hello, Hello" - Gnomeo and Juliet

Best Editing
The Artist
Hugo
Drive
Moneyball
The Descendants

Best Art Direction
Jane Eyre
The Artist
Hugo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Cinematography
The Artist
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Costume Design
The Artist
Hugo
The Help
My Week with Marilyn
Immortals

Best Makeup
The Artist
Gainsbourgh: A Heroic Life
The Iron Lady

Best Sound Editing
Drive
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Best Sound Mixing
Super 8
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Hugo
The Artist

Best Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The Tree of Life
Hugo
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Best Animated Feature
The Adventures of Tintin
Rango
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Cars 2

UPDATED September 1 Oscar predictions

It's about that time again.  In the weeks since my initial, first of the year predictions, not all that much has changed but a few hits and misses have been identified.  In particular, Tate Taylor's racial drama The Help was helped by decent reviews and a surprisingly stellar box office.  Given the Academy's "feel good" nature of late, this is the first certified Best Picture nominee of the year, and with it the one-two performances of Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer (however, the category whereabouts of Miss Davis has yet to be identified, but many are speculating Lead, though this type of role typically lands a win in Supporting).

Others interesting notes, Roman Polanski's Carnage, George Clooney's political drama The Ides of March, and David Cronenberg's S&M-laced A Dangerous Method have made an interesting splash at the Venice Film Festival, but none have registered quite the level of enthusiasm granted towards Black Swan last year.  In the meantime, I've personally begun to turn more speculative towards Clint Eastwood's too-good-to-be-true J. Edgar.  Clint hasn't been hitting on all cylinders since he made a surprise splash into the 2006 Best Picture race with Letters from Iwo Jima.  That is one I'll wait for the payoff to predict.  Techs coming soon.

BEST PICTURE

The Artist

*The Descendants

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help

The Ides of March
*J. Edgar

Midnight in Paris

*My Week with Marilyn

Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy
War Horse
(* indicates those I'm predicting only in an overflow capacity)

BEST DIRECTOR

Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
David Cronenberg, A Dangerous Method

Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Steven Spielberg, War Horse
(Eastwood out, Allen in)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Jean DuJardin, The Artist

Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method

Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
(Unchanged)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
(Felicity Jones out, David in)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn

Albert Brooks, Drive

Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Christoph Waltz, Carnage
(Seymour Hoffman out, Waltz in)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Zoe Caldwell, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus
Octavia Spencer, The Help

Marisa Tomei, The Ides of March

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
(Tomei out, Spencer in; Redgrave new projected winner)

"The Artist" trailer arrives

This monumental hit at Cannes this year has finally been given a trailer.  After the poster landed a few days ago, we've been blessed with moving images from this silent picture.  The Weinstein Company is distributing this film, which means it will likely be a huge player come Oscar season.  I'm currently predicting it for Best Picture, Michel Hazanavicius for Best Director, and Jean Dujardin for Best Actor.  I've never experienced something like this in the Oscar race before, so it'll be interesting to see how a Buzzed-About throwback film fares.  Thoughts?


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Roman Polanski's a god of "Carnage"

Below, we have the trailer for the highly-anticipated and Venice Film Festival opener Carnage.  Based of a ridiculously successful stage play, Roman Polanski's adaptation stars a trio of Oscar-winners and one lone nominee.  Waltz and Winslet in particular look marvelous, with Waltz perfectly capturing the attitude I always imaged when reading the play.  It's still a mystery how this will play in this year's forthcoming Oscar race, but it sure is looking strong.  (Please mind it's enormity, overrunning the posting space).



And the poster, for good measure.

[trailer and poster via Twitch] 

Posters for A Dangerous Method, The Artist, and My Week with Marilyn

Three of my most eagerly-anticipated awards seasons releases have new posters.  One I adore, another I enjoy, and the final leaves something to be desired.  Either way, I'm sure we're looking at the mug of at least 5 future Oscar nominees.

Below, David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, staring Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, and Michael Fassbender.

Below, Michel Hazanavicius' ode to silent films, The Artist, staring John Goodman and Jean Dujardin.

Below, Simon Curtis' much-talked-about film about Marilyn Monroe, aptly titled My Week with Marilyn.  Staring Michelle Williams as the title character, Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier, and Judi Dench as Dame Sybil Thorndike.

"I Think We're Back in Business"

(right around 2:03)

After much ado in my personal life the last month and a half (a wedding, a 2 week honeymoon, working constantly, and studying for the LSAT) I've finally found some time in my schedule to return to my blog.  My postings may be sporadic in the near future (at least until October 1), but they'll exist nevertheless.

Oh, and I'm painfully behind on a lot of new releases, but that's what cheapy second-run movie theatres and Redbox are for.  Regardless, I'm glad to be back.

Hiatus

Tomorrow, I will be marrying the love of my life and for the next two weeks soaking up some well-deserved sun on my honeymoon. So, needless to say, no posts until our return.

Reviews of The Tree of Life and Harry Potter in the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, and Emmy nominee reactions, along with some fun film conversations.

Adios!

'The Dark Knight Rises' teaser poster

As per usual, Christopher Nolan begins the promotions for his films a full year ahead of time.  His follow-up to The Dark Knight, aptly titled The Dark Knight Rises is set for a July 2012 release, and rumor has it that the teaser trailer is set to premier in front of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 this weekend.  I like the poster; it's not the blurry "Why So Serious?" genius of The Dark Knight's teaser, but it's visually stunning and has the sense of a whole city collapsing.

What do you think?